London’s cultural venues: South London leads in pubs, central London has more venues, population density and migration
Dipankar Lahiri
2025-03-21
An analysis of London’s 10,003 cultural venues highlights that South London boasts the highest concentration of pubs, while Central London has higher population density and a greater number and variety of venues. The study shows a strong correlation between population density, international migration, and venue numbers. Outliers include Hackney (more venues than expected based on migration), and Kensington & Chelsea (fewer venues than expected based on population density).
This is an analysis of the distribution of the 10,003 cultural venues in London.
Highlights of Findings
1. Types of Cultural Venues in London
Pubs (4098) are the most common venue type. Large media production studios (5) are the rarest.
2. Number of Venues across Boroughs
Westminster (1186) has the most cultural venues among the 33 London boroughs. The boroughs with the least cultural venues are Barking and Dagenham (85), Redbridge (101) and Sutton (103).
3. Types of Venues across Boroughs
Pubs: The highest proportion of pubs to other venues is in City of London (215 of 340 = 63.2%). But central London has a low proportion of pubs overall - Hackney (26%), Tower Hamlets (30%) and Camden (30%) are the three boroughs with the lowest proportion of pubs. South London has the most pubs overall. The five boroughs which follow City of London in proportion of pubs - Kingston upon Thames (61%), Bexley (59%), Croydon (58%), Bromley (57%) and Richmond upon Thames (56%) - are all in south London. Four other boroughs have pubs being more than 50% of total venues - Havering (east London), Hillingdon (west London), Wandsworth (central London), Sutton (south London).
Other Venue Types: Haringey has the most proportion of legal street art walls (though only 4 boroughs have legal street art walls at all!). Barking and Dagenham have the most proportion of skate parks, Kensington and Chelsea leads in museums and galleries. Hackney leads in music and dance venues.
4. Venue Density across London
The general trend is that the further the location is from the centre of the city, the less venues it has. However, there are some exceptions.
Outliers
The greenland area around Richmond Park is a large area near the centre of the city with no cultural venues.
Uxbridge, Romford are among locations further away from central London which have unusually high density of venues.
Often, there is a high density of venues on certain roads or tube lines outside central London, like the A221 near Bexleyheath or the Elizabeth line from Ilford to Romford.
5. Population Density and Venue Count
There is a significant positive correlation (0.69) between population density and total venue count. Boroughs in central London tend to have higher population density and more venues, and boroughs on the outskirts generally have low population densities and less venues.
Outliers
Westminster and Camden have exceptionally high venue counts (z-scores > 2) relative to their population density. City of London also stands out (z-score > 1) despite having one of the lowest population densities.
Newham and Kensington and Chelsea have fewer venues than expected based on population density.
6. International Migration and Venues
There is a strong positive correlation (0.75) between net international migration and number of venues - meaning boroughs which have more international migration have more venues.
The number of commercial galleries and archives is most associated with international migration. Skate parks, set and exhibition building and co-working desk spaces are the venue types least associated with international migration.
Outliers
Hackney stands out as a positive outlier, with significantly more venues than expected based on migration levels.
Redbridge and Newham are negative outliers, having high net international migration but fewer venues than predicted.
Summary Statistics
List of Boroughs
All 33 London boroughs are represented in the dataset - Barnet, Barking and Dagenham, Bexley, Brent, Bromley, Camden, City of London, Croydon, Ealing, Enfield, Greenwich, Hackney, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon, Hounslow, Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Kingston upon Thames, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Newham, Redbridge, Richmond upon Thames, Southwark, Sutton, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Wandsworth, Westminster.
List of Venue Types
The 10,003 venues have 33 categories - Archives, Artists workspaces, Arts centres, Cinemas, Commercial galleries, Community centres, Creative co-working desk space, Creative workspaces, Dance performance venues, Dance rehearsal studios, Fashion and design, Jewellery design, Large media production studios, Legal street art walls, LGBT+ night time venues, Libraries, Live in artists’ workspace, Makerspaces, Making and manufacturing, Museums and public galleries, Music (office based businesses), Music recording studios, Music rehearsal studios, Music venues (all), Music venues (grassroots), Outdoor spaces for cultural use, Pubs, Prop and costume making, Set and exhibition building, Skate Parks, Textile design, Theatre rehearsal studio, Theatres.
Distribution of Venue Types
## # A tibble: 33 × 2
## `Cultural Venue Type` venue_count
## <chr> <int>
## 1 Pubs 4098
## 2 Community centres 903
## 3 Music venues (all) 797
## 4 Archives 556
## 5 Libraries 342
## 6 Jewellery design 315
## 7 Commercial galleries 306
## 8 Music (office based businesses) 304
## 9 Dance rehearsal studios 265
## 10 Theatres 264
## # ℹ 23 more rows
Pubs (4098) are the most common venue type. This is followed by Community centres (903), Music venues (797) and Archives (556). Of the 33 venue types, Large media production studios (5) is the rarest.
Venues per Borough
## # A tibble: 33 × 2
## BOROUGH venue_count
## <chr> <int>
## 1 Westminster 1186
## 2 Camden 892
## 3 Hackney 683
## 4 Islington 577
## 5 Southwark 535
## 6 Tower Hamlets 514
## 7 Lambeth 512
## 8 City of London 340
## 9 Wandsworth 301
## 10 Lewisham 293
## # ℹ 23 more rows
Westminster (1186) has the most cultural venues among the 33 London boroughs. Following closely are Camden (892) and Hackney (683). The boroughs with the least cultural venues are Barking and Dagenham (85), Redbridge (101) and Sutton (103).
Mapping
Venue mapping on geographical co-ordinates
This shows venues are most concentrated in central London locations. The general trend is that the further the location is from the centre of the city, the less venues it has. However, there are some curiousities. There is a spot in the southwest of the city which has an unusually low density of venues - this turns out to be the large Richmond Park greenland area.
Interactive Map
Zoom in on the map of London and click on individual venues to show the name of the venue (corresponding to site_name).
A few more trends are visible on zooming in and out of the map. For example, Uxbridge, Romford are among locations further away from central London which have unusually high density of venues. Often, there is a high density of venues on certain roads or tube lines outside central London, like the A221 near Bexleyheath or the Elizabeth line from Ilford to Romford.
Venue Distribution per Borough
## Reading layer `London_Borough_Excluding_MHW' from data source
## `/Users/dipankarlahiri/Desktop/College/Sem 2/Data Analysis and Collection/R/Projects/Training/Spatial analysis/Data/statistical-gis-boundaries-london/ESRI/London_Borough_Excluding_MHW.shp'
## using driver `ESRI Shapefile'
## Simple feature collection with 33 features and 7 fields
## Geometry type: MULTIPOLYGON
## Dimension: XY
## Bounding box: xmin: 503568.2 ymin: 155850.8 xmax: 561957.5 ymax: 200933.9
## Projected CRS: OSGB36 / British National Grid
Westminster is the only borough with more than 1000 venues. Hillingdon, Richmond upon Thames and Waltham Forest are the only boroughs on London’s outer border with more than 200 venues.
Venue Types across Boroughs
This above graph shows some interesting trends. For example, Brent (226), Ealing (228) and Richmond upon Thames (227) have around the same number of total venues, but it is the southern borough of Richmond upon Thames which has more pubs (128) than the other two in the north (109 and 105). Among more central London boroughs, Islington (243 of 577 = 42.1%) and Lambeth (196 of 512 = 38.3%) have high proportion of pubs, Tower Hamlets (154 of 514 = 29.9%) and Hackney (178 of 683 = 26.1%) have low proportion of pubs. The highest proportion of pubs to total venues is in City of London(215 of 340 = 63.2%).
Ranking Boroughs on Proportions of Venue Types
Pubs
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_pubs total_venues percentage_pubs
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 City of London 215 340 63.2
## 2 Kingston upon Thames 74 122 60.7
## 3 Bexley 85 143 59.4
## 4 Croydon 110 189 58.2
## 5 Bromley 108 189 57.1
## 6 Richmond upon Thames 128 227 56.4
## 7 Havering 71 129 55.0
## 8 Hillingdon 108 202 53.5
## 9 Wandsworth 152 301 50.5
## 10 Sutton 52 103 50.5
## # ℹ 23 more rowsThis above table reveals that even though the central borough of City of London has the highest proportion of pubs to other venues, the five boroughs which follow it are all in south London - Kingston upon Thames (61%), Bexley (59%), Croydon (58%), Bromley (57%) and Richmond upon Thames (56%). A total of 10 boroughs have pubs being more than 50% of the total venues, none of these boroughs except City of London and Wandsworth are in central London. The three central London boroughs of Hackney (26%), Tower Hamlets (30%) and Camden (30%) are in fact the three boroughs with lowest proportion of pubs.
LGBT+ Night Time Venues
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_lgbt_venues percent_lgbt_venues
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Westminster 1186 22 1.85
## 2 Tower Hamlets 514 9 1.75
## 3 Lambeth 512 8 1.56
## 4 Hackney 683 9 1.32
## 5 Waltham Forest 220 2 0.909
## 6 Islington 577 5 0.867
## 7 Greenwich 231 2 0.866
## 8 Camden 892 7 0.785
## 9 Merton 135 1 0.741
## 10 Wandsworth 301 2 0.664
## # ℹ 23 more rowsWestminster, Tower Hamlets, Lambeth and Hackney, all in central London, are the four boroughs where LGBT+ night time venues are more than 1% of the overall venues.
Legal Street Art Walls
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_street_art percent_street_art
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Haringey 249 2 0.803
## 2 Lambeth 512 2 0.391
## 3 Tower Hamlets 514 1 0.195
## 4 Camden 892 1 0.112
## 5 Barking and Dagenham 85 0 0
## 6 Redbridge 101 0 0
## 7 Sutton 103 0 0
## 8 Kingston upon Thames 122 0 0
## 9 Harrow 128 0 0
## 10 Havering 129 0 0
## # ℹ 23 more rowsSkate Parks
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_skate_parks percent_skate_parks
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Barking and Dagenham 85 2 2.35
## 2 Hillingdon 202 4 1.98
## 3 Enfield 163 3 1.84
## 4 Haringey 249 4 1.61
## 5 Croydon 189 3 1.59
## 6 Bromley 189 2 1.06
## 7 Lambeth 512 5 0.977
## 8 Sutton 103 1 0.971
## 9 Waltham Forest 220 2 0.909
## 10 Kingston upon Thames 122 1 0.820
## # ℹ 23 more rowsHere’s borough-wise rankings for a few combinations of venue types.
Archives, Libraries
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_archives_libraries percent_archives_libraries
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 City of London 340 53 15.6
## 2 Westminster 1186 166 14.0
## 3 Redbridge 101 14 13.9
## 4 Camden 892 115 12.9
## 5 Barnet 199 24 12.1
## 6 Hillingdon 202 24 11.9
## 7 Enfield 163 19 11.7
## 8 Kensington and Chelsea 252 25 9.92
## 9 Newham 176 17 9.66
## 10 Hounslow 191 18 9.42
## # ℹ 23 more rowsMuseums, Art Centres, Galleries
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_museums_galleries percent_museums_galleries
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Kensington and Chelsea 252 36 14.3
## 2 Westminster 1186 147 12.4
## 3 Tower Hamlets 514 35 6.81
## 4 Camden 892 60 6.73
## 5 Southwark 535 28 5.23
## 6 Richmond upon Thames 227 11 4.85
## 7 Greenwich 231 11 4.76
## 8 Harrow 128 6 4.69
## 9 Hackney 683 30 4.39
## 10 Islington 577 24 4.16
## # ℹ 23 more rowsCinema, Theatre
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_cinemas_theatres percent_cinemas_theatres
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Westminster 1186 89 7.50
## 2 Southwark 535 38 7.10
## 3 Lambeth 512 36 7.03
## 4 Haringey 249 17 6.83
## 5 Camden 892 55 6.17
## 6 Hammersmith and Fulham 282 17 6.03
## 7 Kensington and Chelsea 252 15 5.95
## 8 Merton 135 8 5.93
## 9 Newham 176 10 5.68
## 10 Islington 577 32 5.55
## # ℹ 23 more rowsMusic, Dance
## # A tibble: 33 × 4
## BOROUGH total_venues total_music_dance percent_music_dance
## <fct> <int> <int> <dbl>
## 1 Hackney 683 205 30.0
## 2 Sutton 103 26 25.2
## 3 Lewisham 293 72 24.6
## 4 Islington 577 130 22.5
## 5 Lambeth 512 101 19.7
## 6 Tower Hamlets 514 101 19.6
## 7 Waltham Forest 220 43 19.5
## 8 Ealing 228 44 19.3
## 9 Greenwich 231 44 19.0
## 10 Richmond upon Thames 227 42 18.5
## # ℹ 23 more rowsQuite a few interesting trends can be seen from the above tables. For example, Haringey has the most proportion of legal street art walls (though only 4 boroughs have legal street art walls at all!), Barking and Dagenham have the most proportion of skate parks, Kensington and Chelsea leads in museums and galleries, Hackney leads in music and dance venues.
A few ways forward with this data could be to: 1. Make interactive maps with individual venue types or groups of venue types. 2. Group boroughs into regions and follow hypotheses like ‘Does South London have the most pubs?’ or ‘Do boroughs of outer London have more spaces for physical activity (like skating)?’
I will now move on to collate this dataset with a dataset on population and demographic statistics released by the ONS to explore the distribution of cultural venues by population of London’s boroughs.
Venues per Population
## # A tibble: 33 × 5
## BOROUGH venue_count estimated_population_mid_2019 Population_Density venues_per_1000
## <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 city of london 340 9721 30.9 35.0
## 2 westminster 1186 261317 119. 4.54
## 3 camden 892 270029 124. 3.30
## 4 hackney 683 281120 148. 2.43
## 5 islington 577 242467 163. 2.38
## 6 southwark 535 318830 107. 1.68
## 7 kensington and chelsea 252 156129 126. 1.61
## 8 tower hamlets 514 324745 151. 1.58
## 9 lambeth 512 326034 120. 1.57
## 10 hammersmith and fulham 282 185143 108. 1.52
## # ℹ 23 more rowsCorrelation Tests, Linear Modelling
This shows City of London (35 venues per 1000 people) has a far higher number of venues per capita than all other boroughs. The other central London boroughs of Westminster, Camden, Hackney and Islington are the other boroughs to have a venue per capita count of more than 2. The eastern boroughs of Barking and Dagenham and Redbridge are the two boroughs with the lowest venues per capita population (less than 0.4 venues per 1000 people). This leads to the question - does population density have a correlation with venues per capita?
cor(venue_per_capita$Population_Density, venue_per_capita$venue_count)## [1] 0.6939588cor(venue_per_capita$Population_Density, venue_per_capita$venues_per_1000) ## Insignificant negative correlation returned## [1] -0.08533668There is a significant positive correlation (0.69) between population density and total venue count. Boroughs with higher population density tend to have more venues overall - most central London boroughs have high population densities and many venues. Boroughs on the outskirts generally have low population densities and less venues. But there are exceptions to this.
## # A tibble: 33 × 6
## BOROUGH venue_count estimated_population_mi…¹ Population_Density venues_per_1000 residuals
## <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 westminster 1186 261317 119. 4.54 696.
## 2 camden 892 270029 124. 3.30 380.
## 3 city of london 340 9721 30.9 35.0 221.
## 4 bromley 189 332336 22.1 0.569 107.
## 5 hillingdon 202 306870 26.5 0.658 101.
## 6 southwark 535 318830 107. 1.68 96.0
## 7 richmond upon thames 227 198019 33.7 1.15 96.0
## 8 hackney 683 281120 148. 2.43 70.8
## 9 havering 129 259552 22.7 0.497 44.5
## 10 lambeth 512 326034 120. 1.57 17.8
## # ℹ 23 more rows
## # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹estimated_population_mid_2019## # A tibble: 33 × 6
## BOROUGH venue_count estimated_population_…¹ Population_Density venues_per_1000 residuals
## <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 kensington and chelsea 252 156129 126. 1.61 -269.
## 2 newham 176 353134 91.5 0.498 -199.
## 3 hammersmith and fulham 282 185143 108. 1.52 -163.
## 4 barking and dagenham 85 212906 56.3 0.399 -142.
## 5 haringey 249 268647 90.8 0.927 -123.
## 6 redbridge 101 305222 54.1 0.331 -116.
## 7 tower hamlets 514 324745 151. 1.58 -111.
## 8 islington 577 242467 163. 2.38 -101.
## 9 merton 135 206548 54.9 0.654 -85.6
## 10 brent 226 329771 76.3 0.685 -84.9
## # ℹ 23 more rows
## # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹estimated_population_mid_2019## # A tibble: 5 × 7
## BOROUGH venue_count estimated_population…¹ Population_Density venues_per_1000 residuals z_residuals[,1]
## <chr> <int> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl> <dbl>
## 1 city of… 340 9721 30.9 35.0 221. 1.26
## 2 westmin… 1186 261317 119. 4.54 696. 3.97
## 3 camden 892 270029 124. 3.30 380. 2.17
## 4 kensing… 252 156129 126. 1.61 -269. -1.54
## 5 newham 176 353134 91.5 0.498 -199. -1.14
## # ℹ abbreviated name: ¹estimated_population_mid_2019
A linear model helps to identify outliers in the strong positive correlation between population density and venue count. Westminster and Camden have exceptionally high venue counts (z-scores > 2) relative to their population density. City of London also stands out (z-score > 1) despite having one of the lowest population densities. Newham and Kensington and Chelsea have fewer venues than expected based on population density.
City of London is a clear outlier, with a very high venues-per-1000 rate despite its low population density.
International Migration and Venues
## [1] 0.7455101## # A tibble: 33 × 2
## `Cultural Venue Type` avg_migration
## <chr> <dbl>
## 1 Commercial galleries 5340.
## 2 Archives 5196.
## 3 Jewellery design 4843.
## 4 LGBT+ night time venues 4791.
## 5 Dance performance venues 4278.
## 6 Museums and public galleries 4236.
## 7 Theatre rehearsal studio 4214.
## 8 Cinemas 4062.
## 9 Outdoor spaces for cultural use 4056
## 10 Fashion and design 3966.
## # ℹ 23 more rowsThere is a strong positive correlation (0.75) between net international migration and number of venues. Commercial galleries and archives are the venue types most associated with net international migration. Skate parks, set and exhibition building and co-working desk spaces are the venue types least associated with net international migration.
A linear model confirms a strong positive relationship between net international migration and total venue count. Hackney stands out as a positive outlier, with significantly more venues than expected based on migration levels. In contrast, Redbridge and Newham are negative outliers, having high net international migration but fewer venues than predicted.